


Bubble Demons

by ChirpingBirb



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 05:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21248519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChirpingBirb/pseuds/ChirpingBirb
Summary: Follow the main characters in their slice of life adventures!Real-life situations apply to all characters, it can get dark at some times.This work portrays racism, homophobia, suicidal thoughts and depression, suicide, rape, murder, and multiple other things in a realistic light.You were warned.





	1. Chapter 1

Ten years had gone by since the incident. Ten years since Akatsu Touya had fallen into a metaphorical void, stranding him with nothing but depression.

How could a small incident river turn into a waterfall of disaster, crashing into a pool of guilt and sorrow? It's been ten years and Touya still didn't know.

He also didn't know why he accepted the job at the school that started that river, though he supposed it was his friend who convinced him to teach with him. A teacher. Perfect. Perfect to teach the kids of the future what not to do, and how to not mess up as badly has him. They would have a good, normal life.

But nothing can be normal when you go to a school that teaches you how to control your magical capabilities and utilize them for combat or everyday human life. Most of these kids are going to be packed tight with snobbish behavior, and he guessed it was his job now to knock them down a peg or three.

Maybe if he's lucky he'll be allowed to bring his flask, but he seriously doubts that. He's supposed to set a good example, but how could someone set a good example if they've been drowning in a pool of guilt for ten years?

There was only one person who understood him. One person who was there, and had the incident affect them harshly. This person had two personalities so different from each other it was like two people were shoved into one body, one took the spotlight, the other hid from crowds and cried with Touya on particularly bad nights.

He was, of course, talking about his best friend and soon to be teaching partner, The Ace of Diamonds, Hisashi Yamana. It was Hisashi that picked out Touya's name, The Ace of Spades. It was a little long, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

The infamous Ace of Spades, teaching at the biggest school in the demon and human worlds combined. Ten years ago he would have seen it as an honor, but now, he'll probably just get in the way of everyone else. The principal made a mistake choosing him to teach magical control. Magic is tied to emotions, and he sure as hell can't control those.

He sighed and rested his head on the kitchen table in front of him, wincing as his horns hit the table harder than he thought they would. He forgot to transform back again, he was going to be a horrible teacher if he didn't show up in his human form. What would his students think of someone who could hardly control their magic teaching them how to control their magic?

He was probably overthinking things, but overthinking things was better than being unprepared, that's what Hisashi always told him anyway.

Shifting into human form always made him feel naked. Who wouldn't feel naked after losing all the features that made them unique?

He felt his horns shrinking until they weren't there anymore, and felt his teeth return to human size. He felt a slight tingle in his eyes and suddenly his vision was reduced to that of a normal, boring human.

He blinked his eyes a couple of times, getting a feel for normal vision. It was weird he had to do this when shifting to his human form, but not to his oni one. He supposed his body was just more used to being an oni if that made any sense.

Maybe he could call Hisashi to help him mentally prepare for teaching. It would be a good idea, so he decided to do it.

In less than ten minutes, Hisashi Yamana was banging on his apartment door. Touya smiled slightly, prepared to greet him and opened the door.

"Hey Tou... I came... as fast... as I could." He gasped for breath, leaning against Touya's doorframe. He was still in his pajamas, he didn't even bother changing before booking it across town, it seems.

"You didn't have to do that." He stated bluntly, looking at the panting form of Hisashi in front of him.

"No, but I wanted to." He composed himself, walked in, and sat at the table. "So, you need help."

"Yeah. I didn't think about anything when I accepted this job, I don't think I'm mentally prepared." Touya mumbled. Shikkun slapped a hand on his shoulder from across the table.

"It's gonna be fine. They're just teenagers. It's not like they can control anything they do enough to even put a dent on you. You'll be fine." He reassured Touya softly.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Touya said, brushing Hisashi's hand off his shoulder. Hisashi gave him a knowing look.

"You, Touya, are one of the best onis in the world. If anyone can protect those kids while they're learning, it's you." He gently pulled Touya's hands into his own. "What would Shiro say?"

"He would say I was overreacting and tell me to loosen up." He sighed shakily. "But I don't know what to do, Shikkun. I don't know if I'll be a good enough teacher. It's been ten years and I still remember, I still remember it visibly."

He squeezed Hisashi's hands tightly. Hisashi slowly rubbed the back of his hands softly, letting Touya's now oni claws dig into his palm. He could feel the forced transformation happening, but he ignored it. He would be a monster if he interrupted his friend in need.

"I'd be worried if you forgot about it, Tou, it affected us greatly, but don't question your teaching skills because something happened that wasn't in your control. The kids won't know what happened, and they won't know you have nightmares." He kept rubbing circles on Touya's palm as he cried, head on the table so Hisashi couldn't see the tears.

They stayed like this for about thirty minutes before Touya started calming down. He wiped his tears on his shoulder and released his hands from Hisashi's. He looked up and gasped.

"Oh no Shikkun- I didn't mean to- I'm sorry!" He panicked looking at Hisashi's half kitsune form, nine powerful tail swishing behind him lazily. Hisashi waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like your neighbors can see me or anything." He said nonchalantly before Touya can find yet another reason to panic.

"...thanks, Shikkun." He said quietly. Hisashi smiled warmly at him.

"Your welcome, Tou."

|•°•|

Getting into Kashi High, the most prestigious school of magic was easier than Toyotomi Hayato thought. It only mattered about grades, not magical capabilities or whatnot. Just grades.

Hayato had been raised in the demon world his entire life, but he knew that was going to change soon since the school wasn't actually in the demon world. It shocked him at first, but he understood why. Most creatures can't stay in the very cramped demon world, so they move to the human world.

This is why the school offers classes to those who have yet to control their abilities, like Hayato. It's not his fault he can't control his fire, he's never gotten professional help, that's expensive. What was his fault was the burned down junior high after someone insulted his wealth.

He was immediately signed up for that class when the principal heard about this stunt, thinking it was a freak accident. And it was as far as Hayato was concerned, he didn't need a mark on his record.

He was just glad he wasn't the only one who couldn't control their natural tendencies. He heard a ninko went crazy last year because she wasn't getting as much attention as she wanted from a certain teacher. He felt bad for that teacher.

Speaking of rumors, there was one going around that the principal roped the Ace of Spades into teaching at Kashi. If this rumor was true, Hayato couldn't wait.

When the acceptance letter came, his father had practically screamed at him to open it, which he happily did. He cried when he saw he got accepted, it was the happiest moment of his life.

Now he was at the bridge that separated the two worlds, waving goodbye to his father and little sister as he was ushered into a train. He looked around frantically for a spot, finding one next to a jiangshi.

Right, he forgot it wasn't just the Japanese cultured creatures crossing over, and he actually had to remember species to keep from accidentally starting a fight or something. Great.

He sat down next to the jiangshi, hoping it understood Japanese. She should, she's on the train that goes to Japan, it would be weird if she didn't.

"Hi!" He started cheerfully. "You going to Kashi High?"

The jiangshi looked startled, not that Hayato could really tell with the paper seal covering her face.

"Ah... y-yes." She said with a thick Chinese accent. It was obvious from one word and a stutter that her Japanese wasn't all that good.

"I'm Toyotomi Hayato, what's your name?" He decided to keep the conversation down to easy things, simple for her to understand.

"Um... Y- Lan Yue." She was used to saying her name backward, how cute.

"It's quite obvious what you are... but can you guess what I am?" He read that playing small games can bring people out of their shell. He didn't think Lan was shy, she was just bad at Japanese, so small games like this could help her.

"Um... What your abilities?" She asked. Hayato would have thought it was obvious what he was, apparently not though.

"Blue fire. Pretty straight forward." He commented. She seemed to think for a moment.

"Ao... Aoand- aoandon?" She asked. Hayato smiled a toothy grin, showing off his sharp teeth.

"Correct!" He exclaimed, showing off the only way he could control his blue fire, setting his horns ablaze. It didn't hurt him, but he could feel it was there, it was like the feeling of hair on your head.

"Woah." Lan gasped in awe at the blue hot flame attached to his horns.

"Umm." A voice came, trying to get their attention. Hayato extinguished his flames and turned to the voice, an odd-looking werewolf. "Hey... can I sit with you guys?"

"I don't see why not," Hayato replied, gesturing to the seat across from him. The odd werewolf smiled at him and took the seat. The only thing Hayato could pick up from him was his dull American accent. "So, what exactly are you? You don't really look like a werewolf."

"Oh! I'm not actually a werewolf, hehe. I'm a weredog." He said sheepishly.

"Oh, that makes much more sense! What breed?" He hoped that wasn't a rude question, there were a lot of things Americans considered rude that weren't actually.

"Alaskan Malamute. Pure breed." He said confidently. Right, pure breeds were a huge thing in America, it's only natural someone would be proud of that.

"I'm Toyotomi Hayato, an aoandon, and this is Lan Yue, a jiangshi." He smiled.

"Muller Adrian, charmed." He responded with an equal smile. Americans were nice, or at least this one was. "I've never met an aoandon! You look way cooler in person than in those old drawings!"

"Thanks? I've never met a weredog before... or a jiangshi." He admitted. Lan gasped.

"Jiangshi are very common where I am from." She said.

"Where are you from?" Muller asked curiously. Hayato listened in.

"A... death lawn?" She questioned Hayato.

"A graveyard?" He said slowly. She nodded in affirmation.

"That... actually makes sense," Muller commented. "There were a lot of zombies at a well-known graveyard back in Artic Point. They always froze over in out forced winters though, so they had an agreement with some of our dragon morphs."

"That's so cool! I didn't know Artic Point had dragon morphs!" Hayato exclaimed.

"We'll be arriving at our destination in two minutes, please be ready to exit the train." A voice over the intercom announced.

The trio gathered their luggage together and started exchanging contact information. The train jerked to a stop and all passengers were allowed to step out into the giant bubbled area.

There were multiple housing units, shops, cafés, you name it. All under one bubble that served to protect everyone until they moved out into the human world officially, or stayed to help the incoming students. Everything was shiny and bright compared to the dull barely lit demon world.

Hayato smiled a toothy grin as he pulled up his phone's GPS to try and locate the small apartment he'd be sharing with one other person. He couldn't wait to meet his roommate, he wondered what he was like. It had to be a he, there was no living with the opposite sex until the age of consent or unless they were blood-related.

He checked his balance using the Demon Banking App his father installed on his phone. He already knew how to do taxes, and he was pretty good at math, so he started planning ahead, coming to the conclusion that he needed to get a part-time job so his father didn't have to work another job to pay for his apartment. If he was lucky, his roommate might cover for him if he missed his half, he knew he would do that for him.

Finally finding the apartment building, he sighed as he was forced to climb ten flights of stairs. And he was thinking of doing exercise in the mornings, tch.

He reached the door and pushed it open. He announced his presence in case his roommate had crazy reflexes and decided to suplex him or something, he definitely did not want to be suplexed.

The apartment was small, only having four rooms. Two bedrooms, a single bathroom, and a room shared between the kitchen and the living room. It was small, nothing Hayato wasn't used to already, but it was cozy.

He heard a voice shout something in a foreign language before a teenager a few inches taller than him flew around one of the bedroom doors. He had hair that was literally fire, scales along his neck and bared chest, branch-like horns sticking out of his head, but a horse's tail and hooves. He was the weirdest creature Hayato had seen so far and that was saying something.

"Hi, roommate!" He cheered excitedly. Hayato continued to stare at him in awe, his hair was on fire and he didn't seem to react. "You're blue! Do you have like, ice powers or something? You could be the ice to my fire, dude!"

This guy was something, he was so keen on being friends he didn't realize Hayato was staring at him. Be the ice to his fire? No. He'd be the super-hot blue fire to his blazing red glorious fire. His hair was on fire.

"I'm Toyotomi Hayato... and no I don't have ice powers." He said, still mesmerized by the beautiful head of fire this guy sported.

"That's a shame! What do you have?" He asked, still grinning like a madman.

"Blue hot fire." He answered in a daze, before getting snapped out of it by the eerie silence. "Um, is something wrong?"

"You have fire... I have fire..." He paused, thinking about it. "We could be the fire duo, bro!" He gasped loudly. "My name's Longwei Dai, just call me Dai!"

"Huh?" Hayato said dumbly. Before he knew it he was being dragged out the back and into a courtyard of the sort.

Hayato watched as a soft orange light engulfed Dai, who then transformed into a beautiful horse-like creature with dragon scales and horns. Not to mention his entire body was on fucking fire. He was too beautiful for words. Hayato stared at his beautiful flames.

"So, Hayato," He cringed at the hse of his first name but brushed it off because he was so fucking gorgeous. "I'm a kirin, a flaming horse dragon, and you're a demon with blue flames. Show me what you can do."

"Oh, um... Dai-kun... I can really control my flames all that well." Hayato mumbled. "The only place I can fully control them is the tip of my horns, see." For the second time, he lit his icy blue horns ablaze with a bright blue fire.

"That's..." Hayato flinched, ready to be told down by the clearly superior flame wielder. "That's so fucking cool I don't even have words." He muttered.

His flames? Cool? No, he must be joking. No one has ever called his flames "cool". Maybe "pretty" from his sister, or "brilliant" by his parents, but never "cool".

"Really? My flames are cool?" He asked to be sure.

"Hell yeah! Your flames are fucking awesome!" He praised. That's it. Hayato is done with life. He's done, he can die happily now. "Say, Hayato?"

"Yes?" He answered immediately.

"My flames don't affect the people I trust, meaning, I'm basically a steed with fire."

"Go on?"

"Being a flaming steed is already badass enough, but imagine if the rider had fire!" He suggested. The small torch flame on Hayato's horns turned into an inferno at the thought. That would be so fucking badass.

"Badass." He whispered loudly enough for Dai to hear, who chuckled slightly.

"So, whaddya say?" He said, crouching down slightly so the shorter teen could climb on with ease. Hayato hopped on slowly, not so much afraid of the fire as he was the riding part.

He let his blue fire stay on his horns, he was always more comfortable with them on, but he was never allowed to keep them there because the use of magic was illegal where he came from. The blazing red fire danced around him, laughing with his own blue fire as Dai walked around slowly, testing him and Hayato's limits. They danced around for a while when they noticed the sun starting to set.

Hayato hopped off and allowed Dai to transform back. He noted Dai could do a full human transformation and was probably in the control course as well. He would defiantly be ahead of the rest of the classmates for at least the beginning of the year.

They made their way up the ten flights of stairs and decided to stay on the balcony for a bit. Dai leaned over the railing and Hayato sat back in one of the four chairs nailed to the deck.

"It's so unusual," Dai commented, staring at the setting sun. "I lived in the demon world all my life, we never had the sun to tell the time for us, we always used the many clocks posted around Breaking Point."

"I know what you mean." Hayato agreed. "Melting Point wasn't all that beautiful either, everything was dull and we weren't allowed to use our magic."

"Is that why you can't control your flame all that well?" He asked. Hayato nodded.

"Yeah, the only way to learn how to use your magic was by expensive trainers, and my family isn't that well off." Hayato sighed, it felt good to talk about, but he wasn't sure Dai would judge him or not.

"I know what you mean, I'm going to have to pick up a job here soon to support my half of the rent. I'm guessing you are too?" Dai guessed.

"Yeah," Hayato confirmed. "I saw a few places when I was making my way over here. I saw a bakery that looked interesting enough."

"I never took you for the baking type." Dai joked. Hayato laughed slightly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at it, too. I plan on opening a bakery when I graduate. My dad taught me legal stuff so I would know how to." He smiled at the memory.

"You must love him, huh?" He smiled fondly and Hayato nodded.

"After my mom died, he basically taught me anything I asked about. When I told him I wanted to open a bakery, he sat me down and taught me how to do taxes!" He laughed along with Dai.

"My parents wanted me to stay in the demon world with them, but I'm somewhat of a free spirit, so I applied for Kashi when I got the chance." He sighed. "I've always wanted to be an artist, I'm decent enough at painting, but they said being an artist doesn't pay well. I know they just want the best for me, but I can't help but feel trapped in the demon world, you know?"

"Yeah, it's been getting cramped there lately." He agreed. "Maybe I'll hire you to do the official logo for my bakery."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'll hold you to that, don't ever forget about it."

|•°•|

_I know it's only the first day, but you said you wanted to know about everything that's going on, so here is a letter that you don't have to respond to._

_The Bubble is huge, bigger than Melting Point, even! I took some pictures for you, they should be attached to the envelope. I saw a cute little bakery you would have adored! It was called "Sun Bakery" and the atmosphere radiating off of the place just pulled me in, I think I might try and apply for a job there._

_I met two people on the train. One was a Chinese Jiangshi and she was so cute! She didn't know Japanese that well and when asked where she was from she said "death lawn"! Isn't that adorable? I think you would have liked her._

_The other one was American, Arctic Point, a weredog he said he was. I forgot Arctic Point Americans get so obsessed with purebred dogs, but when I saw his face light up I couldn't help but feel happy for him. He's a purebred Alaskan Malamute, and he sure acts like one._

_Did you know they had dragon morphs in Arctic Point? I sure didn't! I would've loved to meet a Western dragon, Eastern dragons get boring to look at after a while. Apparently, Western dragon morphs don't brag about being dragon morphs like ours do. I would've thought the fire breathing got to their heads._

_My roommate is pretty cool, his name is Dai and I think I'm in love. He's Chinese, Breaking Point, but he sounds like he's been speaking Japanese for a while, or has at least been practicing his accents! He said he was a "kirin morph", some kind of dragon-horse or something. But that's not the best part! His hair is fire! It's so nice to look at, a calming orange and red glow. I asked how he sleeps at night and he said he can just extinguish the fire? But I've never seen him do it so I don't know if he goes bald or if he has hair or anything._

_Also, never let Dai cook. Ever. He tried to make takoyaki and it tasted like dirt and sadness. Not even the good dirt. I'm mean the "fifty people died here" kind of dirt. He said he was better at making Breaking Point food, but I don't want to fucking risk it. My taste buds still hate me._

_Maybe you can visit one day, you'd have a great time here. Maybe during winter break? Let me know so I can start planning ahead._

_With Love or Something,_

_Toyotomi Hayato_


	2. Chapter 2

Touya was glad Hisashi was okay with spending the night over at his apartment even though it wasn't in the protective bubble. He knew he was going to have to move he just didn't want to do it yet, he liked his comfortable apartment.

He tried to cook breakfast for Hisashi, but that ended up failing and Hisashi coming to rescue the food from his evil clutches. He was not a good cook at all.

He apologized to Hisashi for making him have to run back so early in the morning, but his apology was waved off yet again. He watched Hisashi make such a grand exit in his borrowed clothes, leaving his waist-length blond hair down for once so he could flip it over his shoulder dramatically. Honestly, if he wasn't the magical charms teacher, Touya would have guessed he was a drama teacher.

He tiredly finished getting prepared and decided to do the most genius thing a half-awake man could have ever done; he filled a thermos full of liquified caffeine and two shots of vodka. Genius. It didn't taste good, but it kept him awake.

Heading out was always the worst first thing in the morning, he didn't have a car or a license, so he had to walk. He would arrive at the bubble in two minutes, according to his GPS.

He already knew what to expect when seeing the bubble, an abandoned corner store that when you walked in you were immediately in a city. But he hadn't been to this city in many months, and many things had changed. The roads were smoother, probably so the new students didn't trip on the infamous pothole. Everyone tripped on that pothole their first year. Everyone.

There was a new shopping district and the train station was looking less run down. Of course, he looked like a black sheep in a crowd of demons who couldn't control their form. Amateurs.

It took him a little longer to reach the school building, which was bigger than he remembered. He took in the sight when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He whirled around quickly, ready to tell anyone to fuck off, when he saw it was just Hisashi in his half shift form. He sighed and relaxed, gripping his thermos and taking a swig of his... beverage.

"Whatcha got there, Tou?" He smiled. Touya forced the look of disgust away from his face and smiled back slightly.

"A concoction of energy." He replied duly, despite the smile.

"Lemme try!" He said, snatching the thermos quickly. Touya's eyes widened and he was suddenly fully awake, trying to stop Hisashi from drinking that monstrosity of... a beverage.

"No, wait–" It was too late, Hisashi didn't even take a small sip, no. He took a gulp and shoved it back into Touya's hands with a look of disgust on his face.

"What the _fuck_, Tou? You're worse at drink making than you are cooking. Shit, man." He exclaimed, fishing for his water bottle and chugging the entire thing quickly. "What the fuck is that?"

"Liquified caffeine and vodka," Touya deadpanned.

"Where the fuck did you get liquified caffeine?" Hasashi gagged.

"You can get anything via the internet. I saw someone who was trying to sell human limbs." Touya admitted and started walking into the school.

"What the _fuck_." He mumbled, following behind Touya.

|•°•|

It was the first day. Hayato shivered at the thought. He would be starting fresh, no old contacts to make fun of his lack of control. No friends to boost his status right off the bat. Nothing. A blank slate. He was happy about it.

He looked at the oddly regular sized doors that lead to his homeroom class. How would taller demons fit through this door? Hayato didn't really care that much, he was just intrigued. Then he saw a demon with giant wings protruding from his back.

There was no way this guy would fit through the door without a struggle. But Hayato gasped when the door grew in size, just wide enough to let the winged demon through. The demon turned around and gave a quick wink to Hayato before disappearing into the classroom.

Hayato rushed after him, eager to get into the room before the bell rang when he was stopped by a human. How did a human get here? Hayato could sense no magical aura around this guy, he was just... human.

The human's eyes narrowed slightly, and he took a swig from his bright pink thermos.

"I suggest you get to class. The bell rings in thirty seconds." He said without expression. Hayato panicked and scrambled into the room quickly.

The man followed behind and the doors slammed closed behind him when the bell rang. Hayato quickly found a seat in the middle of the class and sat down with a heavy sigh of relief. The human walked up to the teacher's desk and set his thermos down, as well as a stack of papers.

"Alright, my name is Akatsu Touya, but you should call me Akatsu-sensei or just Akatsu." He greeted. The class was deadly silent, it seems they couldn't pick up a demonic signature either.

Then someone yelled, "Is this some sort of joke?!"

"I don't see anything funny. Please elaborate..." Akatsu deadpanned.

"Fuwa Terushi. Why did they let you in here, you're a human!" The now named Fuwa shouted.

A dry chuckle was heard from Akatsu and everyone turned their attention to him. His skin turned darker, into a grey color. His eyes now glowed a golden yellow, and his teeth sharpened and hung out of his mouth. Two long, demonic grey horns jutted from his forehead. His already long black hair grew, stopping at his waist. Gasps were heard all across the room.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Akatsu Touya, also known as the Ace of Spades. I will be teaching you kids control." He revealed. He reached into his bag and pulled out a long piece of paper. "I will now be reading rules concerning work laws here, they're different from the demon world. Obviously.

"I know some of you might need to pick up a job to pay rent, that's fine, but please, tell me before you go and get one. The jobs you are allowed to work at are in the booklet you received, the owners will work with your hours, they have done so for years. The sooner you get a job, the sooner you can pay your rent and save up for what comes after you graduate. Any questions?"

Fuwa raised his hand, and anyone looking close enough could see the slight twitch in Akatsu's left eye. The demon with the wings also raised his hand, but Akatsu called on Fuwa first. Probably to get him out of the way, if the twitching eye was anything to go by.

"What if the owners do not work around our schedule." He asked. Akatsu's eye was visibly twitching right now, and he took another swing from his thermos.

"Kid, this town was literally built around the school. They will work with the hours, trust me." He replied. "Next, you with the wings."

"Takami Yuki... Is it allowed to work more than one job?" He asked. His voice was small and shaky. He didn't sound healthy either. Akatsu raised an eyebrow.

"Takami? You live with your parents here, correct?" He asked.

"Yes, sensei."

"Why would you need to work two jobs then?" Hayato was also interested. If he got to live with his parents, they would have paid the rent while he saved up for his bakery.

"Human college is expensive." He answered in a mutter. Akatsu didn't look convinced but didn't push further.

"That is something that is possible but make sure you do your work as well." He turned around and wrote something on the whiteboard. "I've covered everything I was supposed to today. Sh– Yamana will lead you to orientation. Sorry to keep you waiting, Yamana."

The door swung open and a half shift kitsune with his ears hidden under a hat and nine flowing tails walked in looking pissed. Akatsu didn't seem affected by the glare sent his way as drank out of him thermos again. Instead of sipping at it though, he started chugging it.

The blond looked taken aback by this action and moved to get him to stop drinking whatever it was he was drinking. He managed to grab the thermos, look at it in disgust, and chuck it out the hallway.

"I'm not cleaning that," Akatsu muttered, stepping away from the desk and letting Yamana take center stage.

"Alright, class, follow me in an orderly fashion. We're going to orientation!" He cheered, but everyone was either too confused as to what happened or didn't care enough to cheer back with him. "And try to avoid the puddle, we wouldn't want to get your new uniforms dirty, would we?" He sent a glare at Akatsu who shrugged.

Everyone avoided the puddle of clear liquid. The smell was somewhat familiar to Hayato, growing up in Melting Point had to have _some_ perks after all. It was vodka mixed with something he didn't recognize. Probably some energizer drink with the way it mixed with the vodka, definitely a drink one _should not_ be chugging.

Akatsu-sensei was a strange man.

|•°•|

Walking into the Sun Bakery, Hayato was hit with a lovely aroma. Any tension he had felt previously drifted out the door as the aroma filled his thoughts. He took a deep breath and walked to the counter, fully prepared to take some of these pastries home with him for Dai and him to share.

He gave the bell a quick ring and to his surprise, Dai walked around the corner with a smile. That smile widened when he saw Hayato.

"Hey! 'Yato! What're you doing here? Is this the bakery you were talking about? If you get the job we'll be working buddies!" He exclaimed, clearly more happy about this than Hayato, who stared at the very hazardous head of fire Dai sported.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" He asked, pointing to Dai's fire. Dai shrugged.

"I guess so. The owners didn't seem to care, they just smiled when I brought it up Friday." He told Hayato. "Though, it might be their thing. It _is_ the Sun Bakery after all."

"Are the owners here right now?" Hayato asked, looking in the back for any sign of people.

"One is. If you're here for an interview, don't take anything he says to heart, he's testing you." He murmured.

"Noted." He said simply.

"Hey newbie, are you done up front or–" A man with jet black hair and azure blue eyes turned around the corner sharply. He had multiple burn scars covering his arms and a giant one across both of his eyes. He eyed Hayato, making him somewhat uncomfortable.

"Hey Zen! It wasn't a customer, this is the guy you're supposed to interview today." Dai smiled. The man, Zen, kept looking at Hayato judgingly.

"Toyotomi, right?" He drawled. Hayato nodded slowly, unsure of how to read this man. He looked like trouble if the scar on his face was anything to go by. It was as if scalding hot water had been poured on his face. "Right, follow me. Longwei, there's some stuff in the back I need you to move around. They're labeled."

Dai quickly moved to a room labeled "Storage" while Hayato followed Zen to a room labeled "Boss". Zen sat at a desk and pushed a stack of papers onto the floor. Hayato stared at the papers before Zen spoke up.

"So, you want to be hired. We're gonna go through the usual mundane questions before I decide if you're in or not. Got it?" He sounded so stern but his face said otherwise.

"Yes, sir," Hayato said.

"First off, call me Zen, none of this 'sir' business. Second, what would you say your greatest strength is?" Zen asked.

"I'm really good at baking." He answered easily.

"Great, and your greatest weakness?"

"When I lose my temper... I– my fire gets out of control." He said sheepishly.

"Fire?" Zen perked up, no longer bored.

"Yeah. Blue fire. The only way I can control it is from my horns, see?" He demonstrated, showing off his beautiful blue flames to Zen, who looked on in interest.

"We match." He said, holding out his hand, with sparked for a half-second before combusting into a controlled azure-colored flame.

His control was perfect, mesmerizing. The flame danced around in his hand, taking the shape of two people dancing, one of them had what appeared to be wings. Hayato watched in awe as the fire changed into a phoenix, flying around the room with smaller phoenixes behind it.

"Woah..."

"Yeah, it takes a while to control fire that hot, so don't worry about it too much. Where're you from?" He asked, extinguishing the phoenixes once they returned to his hand.

"Melting Point."

"You can keep your fire on your horns and you're from Melting Point? Color me impressed." He said with a low whistle. "Alright, one more question and we're done. What do you want to do after you graduate Kashi?"

"I want to open a bakery in the human world." He replied instantly. Zen smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Alright, you start tomorrow." He said.

"What?"

"You start work tomorrow." He repeated. "Same time as Longwei."

"You don't need to discuss this with the other owner?" Hayato asked unsurely.

"Nah, if he can't make it to work on time, then he can't say otherwise." He said nonchalantly.

"Do you know why he couldn't make it?" He asked, trying to keep a conversation.

"He through his back out last night." Zen chuckled. "So he stayed home today."

"How'd he do that?"

"You ask too many questions. Don't make me fire you before you even start working here." He threatened.

Hayato heald his hands up in defense and walked back to the front counter, where he saw Dai interacting with customers, cheerfully recommending different items off the menu. He caught his attention and gave a small wave, which Dai returned happily.

|•°•|

_First day of Kashi! It went well, the rumors about the Ace of Spades being roped into teaching were true! Even the Ace of Diamonds teaches there. I wonder what happened to the other Aces... if there even are other Aces. It's really weird being a duo when you have a quartet name._

_I went job hunting today, that bakery I told you about was hiring. And guess what? Dai totally works there! The interview was totally weird, though. Not at all like anything you prepared me for. Zen didn't do any special situations, he just asked me the bare minimum._

_He apparently co-owns the bakery with someone else, but I didn't meet him. Zen said he through his back out last night but got all defensive when I asked what happened. I don't know what that's about, maybe he asked the other owner for help lifting something and thinks it's his fault? But it happened at night on a day the store was closed?_

_Zen has blue fire like me. But he had so much control over his, I'm kind of jealous! He was able to make shapes like you, but the fire left his hand and flew around the room! I wish I could've gotten pictures for you, but I didn't have my camera on me._

_And you'll never believe this, but there's an entirely different messaging system here! They don't use letters as we do, I heard some of the students talking about a... reception? They used these smooth brick things called phones and they talked to other people! I asked Dai about it and he explained it a little more. Apparently, because Melting Point doesn't have these "towers", "phone calls" wouldn't work for us._

_Even though it's only been three days, I miss you. I wish you could've come with me, you were always the better cook. I miss your food, Dai can't cook for shit, and I've been surviving off of pastries and "fast food"._

_"Fast food" is another strange thing to me, it's not fast at all. It took 20 minutes for me to get my dinner yesterday, can you believe that? Everything about these "fast-food restaurants" is so unhygienic as well. They don't do anything to keep the flies out, I stepped in what I can only assume was sewage water, the restrooms are never cleaned, and the staff is usually dead inside. It feels like a mirror._

_But to answer your concerns, I haven't seen him yet. Or anyone from the fire. One of the teachers keeps sending me looks every time she thinks I'm not looking, but that could be racism and completely unrelated to the fire. If I see him, I'll let you know._

_Much Love and Appreciation,_

_Toyotomi Hayato_.


End file.
